Moscow 2013
The sixth round of the 2013 DTM Championship was known as the meeting, held at the Moscow Raceway.'2013 DTM calendar', gpupdate.net, (JHED Media B.V., 2013), http://www.gpupdate.net/en/calendar/189/2013-dtm-calendar/, (Accessed 26/10/2015) The race marked the first visit of the DTM to Russia, using the newly built facility a few miles from the Russian capital of Moscow, and was the third race away from Germany in 2013. Mike Rockenfeller took pole and victory for the second time in 2013, launching himself over 25 points clear at the top of the DTM Championship.'ROCKENFELLER BECOMES FIRST DTM RACE WINNER IN RUSSIA', dtm.com, (ITR e.V., 04/08/2013), http://www.dtm.com/en/news/rockenfeller-becomes-first-dtm-race-winner-russia-2013-08-04.html (17/12/2015) claimed his first podium of the season, finishing second, ahead of Augusto Farfus in third, while Gary Paffett finished fifth as the best Mercedes finisher. Background After the historic decision to not award the win at the Norisring after 's disqualification, the DMSB received an appeal by Audi to reverse the decision.'DMSB APPEAL COURT CONFIRMS EKSTRÖM’S DISQUALIFICATION', dtm.com, (ITR e.V., 30/07/2013), http://www.dtm.com/en/news/dmsb-appeal-court-confirms-ekstr-m-s-disqualification-2013-07-31.html (Accessed 17/12/2015) The appeal hearing was held on the 30th of July, where the DMSB upheld both the disqualification and the decision not to award the victory. Although Ekstrom had been disqualified for a breech of conditions, his conduct and racecraft was deemed good enough to have won the race, hence the DMSB saw fit not to award the victory at all. Abt Sportsline boss accepted the decision. The Appeal Court's decision did not affect the Championship standings as the Series headed to Moscow, with Mike Rockenfeller leading Bruno Spengler by two points. Christian Vietoris led the Mercedes challenge in third, Gary Paffett and Robert Wickens in close attendance for the Stuttgart Squad whom had enjoyed better form of late. Andy Priaulx had become the latest name to join the point scorers, leaving four yet to score. The Teams' Championship had been shaken up in Nuremberg, as HWA Team II led the battle ahead of BMW Team Schnitzer. Phoenix Racing sat in third, 20 points back from their BMW and Mercedes rivals, with HWA Team I leading BMW Team MTEK in a battle for fourth. All eleven teams had now scored points in 2013, as Mercedes closed the gap significantly on BMW in the Brands' Championship. Entries Below is the entry list for the : Qualifying One of the warmest days of the season, with track temperatures peaking at 40 , played host to the first DTM qualifying session to be held in Russia.'MIKE ROCKENFELLER IS ON POLE FOR DTM PREMIERE IN MOSCOW', dtm.com, (ITR e.V., 03/08/2013), http://www.dtm.com/en/news/mike-rockenfeller-pole-dtm-premiere-moscow-2013-08-03.html, (Accessed 17/12/2015) The standard four session format introduced for 2013 was again to be used, with six drivers eliminated in the first three sessions, before the final four had one attempt each at setting the fastest lap to take pole position. Q1 Mike Rockenfeller was the first driver onto the circuit, and managed to set the early pace with a time of 0:59.000, with Gary Paffett going second just a fraction of a second slower. Adrien Tambay had looked impressive in practice, and showed his potential pace by breaking the 59 second barrier to go fastest. He remained in the lead of the session at the halfway point, with in second and Jamie Green in third. The second, hectic half of the session saw Bruno Spengler go fastest as all of the drivers tried to push their times higher up the board. Roberto Merhi suffered as a result, running wide and into the gravel which ultimately cost him his chance at getting through to Q2. Also out were Timo Glock, Robert Wickens, Martin Tomczyk, Marco Wittmann and Andy Priaulx. Q2 Rockenfeller again headed out of the pitlane first, although it was Green who set the early pace in the second session. Rockenfeller then responded by going fastest, before the closing stages saw Ekstrom and Dirk Werner both get to the summit of the times. Out went Miguel Molina Tambay, Filipe Albuquerque, Timo Scheider and Edoardo Mortara (all Audi), and BMW driver Joey Hand. Q3 Pascal Wehrlein had a time reinstated between Q2 and Q3, meaning he took Molina's place in Q3. That said, it was Ekstrom who set the early pace, only to be beaten by Rockenfeller as the session neared its conclusion. They continued to exchange fastest times until Rockenfeller found a tenth Ekstrom could not extract, while Augusto Farfus and Spengler managed to sneak into the final quartet in the dying moments of the session. Pole Shootout The final session was abandoned due to the presence of the Russian Air Force in the airspace above the circuit, escorting Russian President Vladimir Putin over the circuit. Their presence meant that the Rescue Helicopter could not take off, causing the DMSB to cancel the final session on safety grounds. Post-Qualifying Race A drop in the temperatures for Sunday was a relief for the teams, who did have concerns that the high temperatures during qualifying and practice would cause high tyre wear. Otherwise, over 45,000 spectators had gathered across the weekend to watch the DTM, which made history when the lights went out 14:00 local time. Report A brilliant start for Mike Rockenfeller saw him streak into the lead of the race off the line, with slotting neatly into second. Augusto Farfus also made a good start, breaking away with Rockenfeller and Ekstrom, as Bruno Spengler battled with Jamie Green. All 22 cars made it through the first lap, with only minor contact between the drivers further down. Spengler fell to Green on lap two, with the Brit try to catch the trio at the front of the field. A lap later and Spengler was pushed down again, this time seeing Gary Paffett force his way past, followed soon after by Adrien Tambay. Spengler's day was made worse when he was put into a spin by Miguel Molina, who was trying to follow Dirk Werner past the black BMW. Molina stopped later that lap, ultimately retiring, as Green and Paffett came in to signal the start of the pitlane chaos. Ekstrom, meanwhile, was putting up a strong defence against Farfus despite using the harder of the two tyres, allowing Rockenfeller to pull over a second ahead. The Swede stopped on lap eight, releasing Farfus, although the gap remained in favour of the German who broke the DRS barrier. Daniel Juncadella and Roberto Merhi, meanwhile, were both penalised for exceeding track limits, hit with one second penalties. Rockenfeller began to push his car hard at this point, pulling a large lead over Farfus that prompted the Brazilian to pit, before catching, and lapping, Andy Priaulx. Farfus emerged behind Ekstrom as the halfway mark approached. Rockenfeller was left running ahead of Tambay, the pair of the them yet to stop, as Edoardo Mortara pitted to retire his car. The race was not one of the most exciting of the season, with Rockenfeller continuing until lap 44. Incredibly, his pace dipped enough for the German to emerge behind Ekstrom, although the Swede was using the softer tyres. Tambay continued on at the front of the field, meanwhile, only stopping with 20 laps to go, with Rockenfeller also stopping to complete his second stop. Ekstrom's stop left his running in third with Farfus slipping away, while Tambay continued on as the laps ticked down. Tambay was the last man to stop with five laps to go, emerging behind Farfus, although the fresh rubber allowed him to pressure the back of the Brazilian until the end of the race. Ekstrom, meanwhile, was drawing in team mate Rockenfeller, but under an agreement at the start of the race, dutifully remained behind the German. Rockenfeller duly crossed the line to take the first DTM victory in Russia, with Ekstrom and a hard working Farfus completing the podium. Tambay collected his first points of the season by finishing fourth, while Paffett claimed fifth to finish as the best of the Mercedes drivers. Results The second race final result is displayed below: * Indicates a driver started on soft or "option" Hankook tyres. Indicates a driver started on hard or "prime" tyres.'TYRE CHOICE: POLE SITTER ROCKENFELLER TO START WITH OPTION TYRES', dtm.com, (ITR e.V., 03/08/2013), http://www.dtm.com/en/news/tyre-choice-pole-sitter-rockenfeller-start-option-tyres-2013-08-03.html, (Accessed 17/12/2015) Milestones *First DTM race to be held in Russia. Standings Mike Rockenfeller's victory, combined with Bruno Spengler's failure to score saw the German pull 27 points clear at the top of the table, over a win ahead. Gary Paffett and Christian Vietoris swapped places once again, with Augusto Farfus climbing back into the top five having slipped out of it over the previous three rounds. Adrien Tambay, meanwhile, leapt into the top fifteen with his first points of the season, as three drivers had still failed to score. The second HWA Team remained in the lead of the Teams' Championship, although the big story was that Phoenix Racing overtook BMW Team Schnitzer to claim second, and close to seven points off the lead. BMW Team RBM took over fourth, battling with the first HWA Team, while Abt Sportsline climbed ever higher in the table. BMW remained in charge of the Brands' battle, although both Mercedes and Audi were now in contention to challenge the Munich based manufacturer. Only point scoring drivers and teams are shown. References Videos and Images: * References: Category:Moscow Category:Races Category:2013 Races